Having spent the better part of the last decade as a fairly successful Sinatra impersonator, Rod Stewart has dropped the tux and returned to songwriting on his new album “Time.”

As a solo artist and a member of The Jeff Beck Group and The Faces in the late 1960s/early 1970s, Stewart earned his reputation as one of the greatest rock vocalists of all time. Stewart’s latter career swerve into Mel Tormé-mode kept the money rolling in from a demographic that still bought CDs because they weren’t computer literate enough to steal the songs.

While “Time” is being hailed as a creative rebirth for Rod the Mod, it took Stewart and five other writers to compose the opening track “She Makes Me Happy.” Some of the best pop songs of all time were written by teams of two or three, but when you bring in the starting line-up from a hockey team, it smacks of desperation.

The multi-writer formula is repeated for much of the album with mixed results. “It’s Over” is an earnest recollection of Stewart’s most recent wedding day, and may be the standout of the original songs on the album. “Brighton Beach” — which finds Stewart in fine voice — is a fond remembrance of the days when Stewart sang on the streets for change.

Sadly, two good songs do not an album make.

As you read this, somewhere in the bowels of Rockefeller Center in New York an audio engineer is busy editing the insipid Coldplay-like throb that is “Beautiful Morning” into a clip package for the “Today” show. This new Rod Stewart tune is a genuine as a Times Square Rolex, but at least the watch has some sort of guts underneath its shiny exterior.

There’s also a Taylor Swift model country song here called “Make Love to Me Tonight” that will no doubt be bouncing off the walls of the Grand Ole Opry before it’s all said and done. Stewart’s voice is fairly elastic when it comes to genre hopping, but the lyrics for “Make Love to Me Tonight” are as bland as, well, a Taylor Swift song. “Live the Life” does a decent job of recreating the flavor of “You Wear It Well,” but the performance never reaches a simmer.

Hopefully, Stewart will give further thought to a reunion with The Faces. If not, there’s always polka.

Classic album: Soul Station

Artist: Hank Mobley

Label: Blue Note

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Hank Mobley never garnered as much ink as jazz greats John Coltrane or Ornette Coleman, but he was in the same league nonetheless.

Page 2 of 2 - Plucked from one of the most consistently rewarding discographies in all of jazz, “Soul Station” is a perfect document of Mobley in his element. Here, his tenor work is as fluid as any of his contemporaries, while his writing and arranging skills are paramount.

Backed by Art Blakey (drums), Wynton Kelly (piano) and Paul Chambers (bass), Mobley unassumingly puts down some of the best bop ever captured on tape.

Of the four Mobley originals on the album, “This I Dig of You” and “Split Feelin’s” are the best showcases for the entire band. Kelly’s ivory work shines especially brightly on the jumping “This I Dig of You,” while Blakey — as usual — puts on a clinic throughout. Mobley takes several tasteful solos that blend well with the group and never meander. Many jazz soloists take several minutes to figure out where they’re going, but Mobley always seems to have a mission and a map.

Irving Berlin’s “Remember” is given new life thanks to Mobley’s sublime saxophone and Chambers’ dexterous bass work. A nine-minute workout on the title track gives everyone plenty of room to blow, and the album closing take on Leo Robin’s“If I Should Lose You” brings everything to a close on a classy note.

Mobley is a bit of an unsung great in the world of jazz, and “Soul Station” is a great place for the curious to start.

Jon Dawson’s album reviews appear every Thursday in The Free Press. Contact Jon at 252-559-1092 or jon.dawson@kinston.com. Purchase books and music at jondawson.com.